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Student Government Association
Student Government Association or SGA (its full proper name is Undergraduate Student Government Association) is an elected body of senators and executives. Its primary purposes include allocating funds to other clubs and organizations and to bring student voices to administration meetings and committees. SGA is a recognized student organization, but is the only one not to be classified using the class system. Structure Executives The executive positions are President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary. The President of SGA also appoints the parliamentarian and committee chairs with the approval of voting members of the Senate. President The President acts on behalf of the students when interfacing with the WPI Administration, Faculty, and Trustees. The President is able to appoint undergraduates, with the approval of the senate, to faculty and institute committees. Treasurer The Treasurer, and his/her committee, are responsible for recommending the annual budget to the senate for all recognized budgeted organizations. The treasurer is also responsible for maintaining the fiscal records of SGA. Senators Senators are elected annually in B-Term to serve the following calendar year. There is one senator for every 80 undergraduates, yielding between 33 and 34 senators. Each senator is assigned a constituency that consists of on-campus and off-campus students. However, senators are elected in two populations, off-campus and on-campus. This fixes the number of on-campus senators as there are a fixed number of beds on campus. Accomplishments 2005 * SGA began the Superfan initiative * Requested and achieved extended hours in the Campus Center during the last week of the term * Supported previous years work of lobbying for a recreation center * Launched a student-run Professor Rating System * Created the Organizations and Clubs Council (OCC), giving WPI's student clubs and organizations an opportunity to express their concerns to SGA through multiple open forums * Implemented SGA Sponsorhip Fund (funded by an increase in the social fee) * Ran a wide PR campaign to increase student awareness of what SGA does * Generated a 200% increase in voter turnout for Campus Hearing Board Elections * Recommended to faculty that GPAs be available through BannerWeb * Ran Pep Rally * Oversaw a senate election where 72 candidates competed for 36 positions * Allowed Professional Societies (namely AIAA and ACM) to get budgets by changing the SGA Constitution * Play a major role in actually getting a campus center Election Results *2013 SGA Executive Board *2010 SGA Executive Board *2010 SGA Senate *2009 SGA Executive Board *2009 SGA Senate *2008 SGA Executive Board *2008 SGA Senate *2007 SGA Executive Board *2007 SGA Senate *2006 SGA Executive Board *2006 SGA Senate Notable Members *John Baird, '04 *Conor Walsh Trivia *The SGA Office is named in honor of Michael Donahue '90, former SGA President. *A former SGA webmaster, Paul Ingemi, created an internal wiki for the organization in fall 2004, but the project never caught on and was abandoned after a Web site redesign. *The SGA Web site was completely rebuilt twice in 2005: once by Jake McAleer '05 and again by former SGA president Adam Wilbur. *Online profiles of each senator were first implemented in 2001 by then senators John Baird, '04, and Conor Walsh. *Past SGA presidents include Warren Smale (5 Terms), Greg Findlen (3 terms), and Cathy Connelly (Treasurer). *Only two senators have ever held real world government positions while also being a senator. The first was John Baird, then a member of his town's Housing Authority. The second was a student who'd been elected as a Massachusetts State Legislator. Contact Information * Campus Center 313 * +1-508-831-5565 * Student Government Association Web site Category:Social Programming Groups Category:Official Clubs Category:Student Government